Little Lost Raccoonlets

[dreamshark]

These little guys were nosing around the garbage behind the QLogic building yesterday. Several people saw them, and report that they were letting people walk right up to them and sniffing at outstretched hands. I didn't see them myself, but one of the facilities people took this picture. Today they are nowhere to be seen. Poor little things probably lost their mother, and who knows what happened to them after that.

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I bet mama found them and is caring for them again.

K.

[cari-rose.livejournal.com]

I hope so.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

I'd like to think so. (So cute!)

Sharon, would anybody at the building have called animal control?

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Actually, the facilities guy DID call animal control, although I don't know why. I guess because the critters were sniffing around the dumpsters, although they couldn't possibly get into them. He said some guy came out and picked up the little coonlets and dropped them in a field 100 yards away. As soon as Mr. Animal Control left, the little furballs came ambling back to the garbage bin and hung around for the rest of the day.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

Ha! Sounds like they feel at home in the area. Maybe they are old enough not to need parental supervision anymore?

I found this info online: At about eight weeks of age young raccoons begin to accompany their mother on her foraging excursions and she teaches them how and where to find food, climb trees and avoid danger.
Summer is a time of great activity for raccoons with the kits playing, getting into mischief and discovering their world. Many sources of forage are at their most abundant in the summer. Dispersal of the kits usually begins in the fall. Kits in northern areas may stay with their mothers until the next litter is born, while kits in southern areas normally disperse after three to six months.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure they weren't big enough to be on their own. If they were, their Mommy didn't do a very good job of teaching them important lessons, like staying away from people. Maybe they had just reached the age for going out on "excursions" and they did the equivalent of getting lost in the supermarket.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

This certainly sounds like case of 'getting into mischief.'

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

A good bet.

B

[cari-rose.livejournal.com]

They are SOOO Cute!
I want one!